U.S. call to reject Sea Treaty

Press, 27 October 1982, Page 8

U.S. call to reject Sea Treaty

NZPA-Reuter London The United States began a big effort yesterday to persuade allied nations to reject a United Nations treaty which it says would restrict sea-bed mining by private firms. A residential special envoy, Donald Rumsfeld, has explained the American case to the French President in Paris and later flew to London for a meeting with Mrs Margaret Thatcher, said American officials. The Reagan Administra-

tion announced in July that it would refuse to sign the Law of the Sea Treaty, which had been approved by 130 nations in April after eight years of negotiations. Mr Rumsfeld, a former Defence Secretary, was asked by Mr Reagan to lobby internationally against the treaty. America has welcomed treaty provisions on free navigation and territorial limits, but says that other clauses favour the Third World in the exploration of valuable mineral resources.

Britain says that it is still studying the text and conferring with other governments. “We have not made up our minds yet,” said an official at Mrs Thatcher’s office. The treaty will be open for signature in December, and will become law when it is ratified by 60 governments. When negotiations ended in April, America voted against while 17 countries, including Britain, West Germany, Italy and the Netherlands, abstained. France and Japan voted in favour. Private companies in

many western countries have extensive interests in ocean mining operations. American sources.’ said that Mr Rumsfeld would also visit West Germany and Italy and possibly other countries on his European tour. The European Commission, the executive body of the 10-nation European Common Market, has recommended member States to sign the treaty, but British officials said that it was for each country to make its own decision.